A pointed quip from Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson has added a new layer of tension to the already charged atmosphere surrounding Vice President Sara Duterte’s upcoming impeachment trial.
Lacson took aim at Senator Rodante Marcoleta on Sunday, suggesting that if the senator persists in challenging the constitutional foundations of the impeachment process, he might as well sit with the accused. “It depends on how he will present his arguments. If needed, he may be told to join the defense team,” Lacson said.
The senator made clear he sees little legal ground for Marcoleta’s anticipated maneuvers. “The answer to Marcoleta’s threat lies in one word: Constitution,” he added, signaling that procedural objections would find no traction under the existing framework.
The remarks came a day after Lacson traded blows with former presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo, who had alleged that Lacson and certain colleagues were already leaning toward conviction — effectively prejudging the case against Duterte. Lacson dismissed Panelo as ungas, a Filipino term for dumb. Panelo fired back, saying that resorting to “insult and personal attack is a mark of idiocy.”
